Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Funk Brothers guitar players Eddie Willis, left, of Grenada, Mississippi, and Joe Messina, right, of Warren, share a laugh during ...

Joe Messina, the prolific guitarist whose work with the Funk Brothers can be heard on an array of Motown classics, died Monday, April 4, the Detroit Free Press reports. He was 93. Messina died at his ...

Joe Messina, one of the star guitarists on the front line of Motown’s studio band, the Funk Brothers, died early Monday at his son Joel Messina’s Northville home, his son confirmed. He died of natural ...

The Funk Brothers step out of the shadows and into the open Friday night at Chateau Ste. Michelle. The R&B and soul group -- members of the legendary studio band at Motown Records in the label's ...

Motown owned the pop charts in 1965. These four massive hits from some of the label's biggest stars showed the way.

Pledging "there ain't no party like a Funk Brothers party," the former Motown studio band turned the lawn at Chateau Ste. Michelle into a giant dance floor. The veteran band that backed so many famous ...

The Funk Brothers played on more number 1 singles than any other band in history. Sadly, their status as sidemen for Motown Records largely consigned these unsung pioneers to the forgotten corners of ...

An error has occurred. Please try again. With a The Portland Press Herald subscription, you can gift 5 articles each month. It looks like you do not have any active ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Joe Messina was by all accounts, including his own, a soft-spoken guy who was happiest while playing his guitar. But as one of ...

Joe Messina, one of the original guitarists for Motown Records' in-house backing band the Funk Brothers, died on Monday at the age of 93. Born on Dec. 13, 1928, in Detroit, Messina began playing ...

Joe Messina, a jazz guitarist whose work with the Funk Brothers helped build the bedrock of the Motown sound, died Monday in Northville. He was 93. Messina, a longtime Warren resident, died at 4 a.m.